Rail-fastener.



I. P. FOLEY.

RAIL FASTENER. APPLlcATl-N FILED AUG.31, 191e.

Patented Jan. 30, 19Wn ATTORN EY parts, all as with the invention;

.TOI-IN P. FOLEY, OF COLUMBUS, KANSAS.

RAIL-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Yatent.

ratentea aan. so, init.

Application filed August 31, 1916. Serial No. 117,938.

-citizen of the United States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Cherokee and i' State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway ties, and has for its primary object to provide a simple, inexpensive, and improved means for attaching railway rails to the tie quickly and expeditiously, and in suoli manner as will prevent accidental displacement of the rails, such as rail spreads and the like.

A. further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which holds the rails positively against movement toward or away from each other, and which also acts as a support or binder for the With these objects in view, together with others which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel formation, combination and arrangement of will be described more fully hereinafter, illustrated in the drawings, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings,

o wherein Figure 1 is a sectional view taken through the rails of a conventional form of track, and illustrating in connection therewith, a tie constructed and arranged in accordance Fig. 2 is a plan View of the device shown in Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken through the rail and a portion of the tie and binder.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, 4 indicates a conventional form of railway tie, and 5 the railway rails supported thereon.

The tie may be formed of wood or concrete and is provided with an elongated rail retaining member 6, the latter extending throughout the length of the tie and upon the lower face thereof, andextending at its ends up and over the extremities of e the tie to lie upon the upper face of the latter. T his strap member is arranged preferably intermediate the longitudinal edges of the tie, and is relatively narrow throughout its length. The extremities of the rei taining member are widened as shown in Fig. 2, and are bent upwardly and angularly to Conform to the configuration of the outer base flange and web of the rail. rlhiswidened portion of the retaining meinber, indicated at 7, prevents outward shiftinc; or spreading moveinentof the rails, and also performs the function of the fish plates now generally used in effecting a connection between the ends of the adjacent rails.

' Bolts 8 extend through elongated openings in the fish plate portion of the retaining member and through the rail to firmly bind the latter to the former.

The rail retaining member is secured to the tie il by means of bolts 9, the latter passing entirely through the tie and through the upper and lower portions of the rail retaining member.

Associated with a tie of the above construction for preventing the rails moving inwardly of the tie or toward each other, is a rail clamp 10. This clamp is formed of a metallic bar of substantially the same width as the member 6, and is provided with fish plate portions 11 at its extremities for engaging against the inner faces of the opposing rails. The rail clamp lies flat upon the upper face of the tie, and is secured thereto by bolts 12, the latter extending through the tie and also through the retaining member 6 secured to the under face of the same. The bolts 8 extending through the fish plate portions 7 of the retaining member 6 also pass through elongated openings in the ish plate portions l1 of the rail clamp, and it is obvious from this construction that the rail is firmly bound to the retaining member and clamp. When it is desired to remove tlie rails, the bolts 12 at the ends of the rail clamp may be withdrawn, and the clamp swung upon the intermediate bolt. The rails may be then replaced or readjusted, whereupon the rail clamp may be swung back to operative position and secured at its ends by the bolts 8 to the rails, and to the tie by the bolts 12.

From this construction, it is obvious that l have provided an extremely simple, inexpensive and yet thoroughly eflicient means for securing railway rails to ties. The clamp and retaining members operate as binders `for strengthening the tie and lending rigidity thereto. The members 6 and 10 perform functions of Ypreventing iid ' and being;` adapted to the rails movingtoward or away from each other and also securing the ends cent rails. Y

While the above is a description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that various changes in the minor details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, if desired, Without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the claims.

lV hat is claimed is l. In a device of the class described, a tie, a retaining` member comprising a relatively narrow7 metallic strap secured to the under face of the tie and extending at its extremities inwardly from the ends of the tie and upon the upper. face thereof, the extremities of said strap being of greater Width than the body portion of the same engage and snugly lit the web of a rail, a rail clamp comprising a strip ofmetal secured to the upper face of the tie and between the extremities of adjaof said retaining' member, the ends of said clamp being widened and adapted to snugly engage the Webs of the opposing rails, and

the said widened portions of said clamp and retaining' member being provided with alined openings, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, a tie, a -rail retaining member comprisinga metallic strap extendinglongitudinally of the tie upon the under face thereof and projecting il'nvardly` from the opposite ends of said tie upon the upper face of the same, the extremities 'ot' said member being widened and bent to form fish plate portions, 'a rail clamp secured to the upper face of said tie, the ends of said clamp beinteT bent upwardly and angularly to provide fish plate portions for engagement with the inner faces of railroad rails, and bolts adapted to 4extend through the fish plate portions of said retaining member and said clamp and through rails held thereby, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I allix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN FOLEY. Witnesses:

F. O. PARGEN, F. A. MCPHERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each. by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C. 

